Oliver Redding
Oliver Redding Tales tell of Oliver Redding's courage and nobility, a fact that he finds both ridiculous and bittersweet. If Oliver had courage, he would have stood up to his father, Duke Penn Redding, in time to prevent all of that suffering. If Oliver had nobility, then he would have remained silent like the rest who laid claim to that aspect. Regardless of the misperceptions people have about what he did and how it reflects on his character, he was both elated to see all of the people he had helped and crushed by the effects his actions had on his family and the knowledge that he could have helped so many more if he had acted more quickly. Childhood As a child, Oliver was given every opportunity and knew very little hardship. The only real trauma he had to endure was the death of his mother, Duchess Sylvia Redding, when he was 11. The two of them spent many nights talking about her impending death and how it was nothing to fear, but the shock of it was still very impactful on young Oliver. Sylvia's death also had a great effect on Penn and Brian. Penn became singularly focused on protecting and enhancing their family's legacy, seeing this as the best way to ensure that his beloved continued to live on in some way. He built monuments, gained territory, and destroyed rivals in his efforts to solidify his family's reputation through the ages. Within a short time, he took the title of Archduke. Brian always believed his mother was going to recover, that the peasant doctors who worked so hard on her would find a cure for her. When they failed, he was left disillusioned and bitter. He idolized his mother and thought that the world must be cruel to take her away from him. He saw conspiracies where none existed. He became as cold as the world around him. Growing Up Just before Oliver's 18th birthday, reports came in that dozens of peasant families had been butchered along the edge of the Duchy of Redding. Oliver was sent to investigate with a small contingent of soldiers and discovered signs that the victims were killed by a rival house. The evidence seemed too obvious for Oliver though, and he continued to investigate on his own while his family mobilized for war. He realized that several of the homes had signs of children, but children's bodies were not found at all of the homes where children should have been present. Following trails and stories of mysterious wailing in the night, Oliver eventually found a cabin where the children were being held. He put the guards to sleep with magic and began untying the children, when his brother walked in. Oliver started a nearby wood pile on fire and fought his brother to a standstill. When the nearby villagers arrived to investigate, Brian yelled at Oliver to kill him and tell the villagers that Brian had acted alone so that the family could continue on. Oliver looked at the children huddled near the fire, realized that the children must have been spared by Brian and that he might still have some glimmer of humanity left in him, and put Brian to sleep with the last of his magical energy. Penn took his own life when these events came to light. Brian spent several days shouting that he was doing what was best for the Duchy, but before he could be put on trial he was spirited away. With the Archduke dead and his heir in absentia and accused of high crimes, the Redding lands were divided amongst other nearby Dukes. Several other abuses of power by Brian were uncovered and a handful of lower ranking nobles were connected to the plots and the murders, but there was pressure to bring the whole chapter to a close before too many stones were overturned. Rumors persisted that this was not the first time the Duchy of Redding had manufactured a cause for war to expand their holdings, and there were even rumors that a foreign power was working with the Archduke to unwittingly weaken Condar from within, preying on his ambition to create internal conflicts along the border. Regardless of the truth of these rumors, Condar was soon at war.